[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 97 (Wednesday, June 17, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H4448]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF LeROY KING

  (Ms. PELOSI asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, it is with great personal sadness that I 
rise today to pay my final tribute to San Francisco's much beloved 
LeRoy King, who died on June 12 at the age of 91. A distinguished labor 
and civil rights African American leader, King's passion for justice 
and commitment to equality improved the lives of working men and women 
in San Francisco and throughout the country. From inviting Dr. Martin 
Luther King, Jr. to speak in San Francisco in 1967 to his casting my 
electoral college vote in 2008 for President Barack Obama as the first 
African American President of the United States, LeRoy King was more 
than a witness to historic progress; he made history.
  During World War II, King served with courage and honor in the Army 
and dedicated his entire life to preserving and strengthening the great 
democracy he fought to protect. Even in his 80s, in the tradition of 
great American leaders, he was arrested for an act of civil 
disobedience on behalf of hotel and restaurant workers.
  King served as northern regional director of the International 
Longshore and Warehouse Union, ILWU, for more than 30 years. It was 
important to him to overturn a discriminatory system that elected only 
Whites to union office, and he helped create a fully inclusive, 
integrated workforce. King organized with legendary labor leader Harry 
Bridges, was a staunch supporter of civil rights champion Cesar Chavez, 
was a supporter of Reverend Martin Luther King, and in 2009 he was 
honored with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Award for 
promoting peace and advancing social and economic justice by embodying 
Dr. King's inclusive leadership and nonviolent participation.
  Mr. King, whether it was for ending discrimination and promoting 
affordable housing to community development to jazz, he has been 
honored. His accomplishments are memorialized in locations throughout 
San Francisco. My revised remarks, for the Record, will go more into 
that.
  It has been a great privilege for me to know such a deeply principled 
and exemplary human being and to call him friend. I will miss him. My 
family, my husband and my daughter Christine, my entire family will 
miss him terribly.
  I hope it is a comfort to his daughters, Rebecca King Morrow and 
Carolyn King Samoa; his son, LeRoy King Jr.; his grandchildren, and 
great grandchildren that so many San Franciscans, indeed beyond San 
Francisco, and other people loved and admired LeRoy King, and they 
share their tremendous loss.
  Mr. Speaker, it is with great personal sadness that I rise to pay 
final tribute to San Francisco's much beloved LeRoy King, who died on 
June 12th at the age of 91. A distinguished labor and civil rights 
leader, King's passion for justice and commitment to equality improved 
the lives of working women and men in San Francisco and throughout the 
country.
  From inviting Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. to speak in San Francisco in 
1967 to his casting my electoral college vote in 2008 for Barack Obama 
as the first African American President of the United States, LeRoy 
King was more than a witness to historic progress, he made history.
  During World War II, King served with courage and honor in the Army--
and dedicated his entire life to preserving and strengthening the great 
democracy he fought to protect. Even in his 80s, in the tradition of 
great American leaders, he was arrested for an act of civil 
disobedience on behalf of hotel and restaurant workers.
  King served as Northern Regional Director of the International 
Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) for more than 30 years. King 
became a member of ILWU Local 6 in 1946, one of the first African 
Americans to serve in the local leadership. In the 1950s he led a 
coalition of members to overturn a discriminatory system that elected 
only whites to union office and helped create a fully inclusive, 
integrated workforce. Mr. King sought to create a world where others 
could live free of discrimination, bigotry and injustice.
  King organized with legendary labor leader Harry Bridges and was a 
staunch supporter of civil rights champion Cesar Chavez. In 2009 the 
National Education Association honored King with the Dr. Martin Luther 
King Jr. Memorial Award for promoting peace and advancing social and 
economic justice by embodying King's inclusive leadership and 
nonviolent philosophy.
  Mr. King served on the San Francisco Redevelopment Commission for 
more than 30 years where he fought to preserve the African American and 
Japanese American heritage of the Fillmore District. His efforts helped 
lay a foundation for a more inclusive, more welcoming home for all San 
Franciscans.
  King was instrumental in the creation of the St. Francis Square 
Cooperative Housing development, which opened in 1963 in the Fillmore 
District and was a national model of racially integrated housing for 
working families. King and his family lived there from the time it 
opened until he died.
  King's accomplishments are memorialized in locations around San 
Francisco. The City's 108-year old carousel at Yerba Buena Gardens was 
renamed the LeRoy King Carousel, an homage to one of the many sites 
King helped shape while serving on the Redevelopment Commission. A 
bronze bust of King at the Jazz Heritage Center in San Francisco's 
Fillmore District honors his work preserving the neighborhood's African 
American and Japanese American heritage.
  It has been a great privilege for me to know such a deeply principled 
and exemplary human being and to call him my friend.
  I hope it is a comfort to his daughters Rebecca King Morrow and 
Carolyn King Samoa, his son LeRoy King Jr. and his grandchildren and 
great grandchildren, that so many San Franciscans who loved and admired 
LeRoy share their tremendous loss.

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